Irish woman has 'Guinness Book of Records' loudest voice

An elementary teacher from County Down has been re-entered in to the "Guinness Book of Records" for having the loudest voice in the world.

Annalisa Flanagan's shout is the equivalent volume to that of a jet engine, a rock concert or 121 decibels. She has held the record for over a decade.

Back in 1992 Annalisa and her twin began their quest in a local "records night" where Guinness entries were challenged. The noisy pair managed to reach 119 decibels but Annalisa was the loudest of the pair.

"We should have pushed it further, we could have been the world's loudest twins,” said Annalisa.

Two years later, in 1994, Annalisa entered a Citybus shouting competition and broke the world record reaching 121.7 decibels. As a joke she shouted the word "quiet" during the competition. She described her talent as "crazy". "People train for years but I was just in the right place at the right time”.

Although Annalisa fears that having her tonsils removed a couple of years ago may have toned down her volume she still has a impressively loud voice which comes in handy on the hockey pitch and in her job as an elementary teacher in South Belfast. She did say, however, that she tries not to shout at the kids, it would probably deafen them.

"The Guinness Book of Records 2011" also includes the world's smallest cow, the heaviest gooseberry and the largest collection of Smurf memorabilia.